Thriller
by Apocalyptic-Fairytale
Summary: It's All Hallows Eve and Cloud and Aerith are out on a date, thinking it's a normal night when all of a sudden something very spooky happens! This is inspired by Micheal Jackson's thriller. No flames, please.


_It was all All Hallows' Eve and Cloud and Aerith were watching the latest horror movie in the most popular theater._

**A**erith sat in the theater seat and watched in terror as the girl in the movie ran from the killer. The girl on screen had made it into a closet. _"No! Not there!"_ Aerith proclaimed to herself. _"They always find you there!" _

The camera came closer to the girls face, complete terror was written over it. A shadow appeared in front of the door. The girl tried to muffle her panicked breaths with her hand but it was too late! The white masked killer already knew where she was.

The killer brought up his jagged butcher knife; fresh blood dripping. He turned towards the closet slowly, anticipating his next kill. The music started off slow as he opened the doors then gradually got louder and louder until, suddenly…it stopped! The killer threw open the closet door and struck at the girl!

But before Aerith could see anything at all, she shut her eyes immediately and hid her face in Cloud's chest; gripping onto the front of his shirt in terror.

Cloud looked away from the screen and glanced down at Aerith's face buried in his chest. "_She is really scared from this movie..." _Cloud—like many other boyfriends—thought it was cute that she was so scared of such a corny movie. She would always go on about how she was raised in the slums and could _handle anything_ yet she was terrified of corny movies like this. The thought of his _brave_ flower girl fearing a man in a mask was too funny.

"Scaredy cat-" -he turned his face back to the horror film- "The coast is clear. You can look back at the screen now." he said in a hushed voice. Aerith slowly looked up at Cloud and squinted her eyes at him, her brows narrowing at him. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms as she looked away from the screen _and_ Cloud. "I'm _not_ scared." she put emphasis on the _'not' _as she spoke_._ "I just didn't want to see all the bloody stuff, that's all."

Cloud spoke skeptically, "Yea, sure Aerith." She knew he was only saying that because he didn't believe her and that filled her with annoyance.

Her face got serious. "It's true!" She whispered. Cloud didn't reply but instead shook his head left and right slowly in a teasing manner. A small smirk played on his lips as he let out a sigh in disbelief. Aerith's face grew softer. "It's true..." she mumbled as she sank into her chair. _Why does he even want to watch this stupid movie. To think this would annoy him.._.

Aerith turned to look at Cloud, causing his arm to slide down from around the back of her neck and shoulders. "Can we get out of here?" Aerith asked. The blonde flung a few pieces of popcorn in his mouth and turned to look at her dimly lit face. "Come on, I wanna see the ending. It's almost over anyway..." and with that he turned his gaze back to the wide screen in front of him. Cloud wasn't one to just waste cash either, and since it was Aerith who suggested to see this film in particular, Cloud wasn't to blame for her wanting to leave.

Feeling displeased, Aerith puffed out her cheeks and glared at her clueless boyfriend for a few seconds before slumping back into her chair irritably. "Well, I can't watch!" She whispered loudly.

Cloud looked at Aerith, her face was turned away from him, avoiding his gaze. "_There goes 30 bucks..." _He thought. Cloud tugged her closer to his body and spoke in a defeated sigh; "Come on,"

Aerith smiled when she got her way and quickly rose to her feet, Cloud in hand, as they left the movie room.

ooo

It was a full moon out, stars shined brightly above as Cloud and Aerith headed away from the entrance of the Theater to his motorcycle.

Cloud could tell Aerith was still a bit _scared_ from the movie by the way she was staying so close to him._ "Why is it that slasher films scare girls so badly? It's always some guy running around with an axe or a knife. What's the big deal..." _

Not a word was spoken between the two for a few seconds until Cloud broke the silence.

"It's only a movie, Aerith." he said as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer; trying to calm her nerves. "It's not funny." Aerith said in a slightly humiliated voice, then looked in the other direction as they walked. "You were scared, weren't you?" Cloud asked innocently, hoping to get her to admit it.

Aerith crossed her arms and gently pulled away from Cloud's embrace_ trying hard to not look_ _scared_. "I wasn't _that_ scared." She mumbled and then slowly walked ahead of Cloud. He stood there in disbelief, a boyish smile on his face; "Yea, _you were scared._"

_It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark_

Cloud and Aerith were taking the back way home, hoping to beat out any busy traffic of the holiday night. It was a small break from the city that consisted of a small forest. Tall trees shook in the fast, autumn wind. After driving for a few minutes the motorcycle came to a slow stop. The full moon was high in the sky and fog covered the cold ground. Aerith looked around as she heard the engine die out. She removed her hands from around his waist and stuck her tongue to one side of the inside of her mouth, causing her lips to pout. She glared at the back of his blonde, spikey head. "_I know what he's doing. Well, it's not going to work. I'm not going to be scared by some dark...foggy...forest" s_he scoffed to herself.

Cloud sensed that she was glaring at him and looked back at Aerith to see her cold stare. "What?" he said innocently, a small smirk on his face. "Oh you _know_ what." She said sternly. "We're out of gas." He replied.

Aerith shook her head cynically. "Yea, sure."

"Well," Cloud sighed as he got off the motorcycle. "Wha- what are you doing, Cloud?" Aerith said worriedly.

"Well, we can't sit here all night, right?" Cloud asked as he looked back at her. Aerith opened her mouth slightly and made a quiet squeak noise in the back of her throat. "_I thought he was messing with me!"_

She began to speak; "So we-" Cloud nodded his head as he finished her sentence; "Yea, we have to walk."

Aerith stepped off the ride and stood in the cold air thinking how this _couldn't_ be happening right now. She looked at the moon. It was an eerie sight, it was so big and so bright.

Hardened leaves rustled across the pavement in the wind and Aerith shivered from the cold._ "I should have worn warmer clothes..."_

Aerith had on a white sweater dress decorated with small, lace floral patterns, the length of it went to her knees. Shier brown tights covered her legs and small brown high-heeled, ankle boots were on her feet.

Cloud heard her teeth clacking from the cold air and started to walk to where she was. "Cold?" He asked as he took off his black leather jacket and wrapped it around her.

She smiled; "Thanks," And tightened the warm jacket around her body. "Aren't you going to be cold, Cloud?" She asked concerned. "Nah, I'll be fine."

"_He's just saying that... He's gotta be cold.._." She wondered.

Cloud had on a black sweater—it was loose around his torso but oddly tight around his shoulders and upper biceps. His pants were a dark blue almost black, and were slightly baggy. Not baggy like the_ hip-hop clothes_, but baggy enough for a guy to have room.

_Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart  
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it  
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes  
You're paralyzed_

Cloud wrapped his arm around Aerith, to where it was laying around her shoulder as Aerith placed her arms across her chest. She thought that since Cloud was the one leading where they were going, that it would be ok if she closed her eyes as she walked.

After a few minutes of walking went by they came across a _spooky sight_ indeed. Aerith's emerald eyes flickered opened and what she saw _almost stopped her heart_. They were walking in a _cemetery_. "Uhh, Cloud, why are we in this place?" She asked nervously. "This is the way back to our place." He said. "And there's no other way home?" She asked quickly.

"Unless you want to add about _three hours_ of walking just so we can take the other way—" He paused as they walked over a few rocks then continued speaking. "Which I personally don't wanna take. Because, well, it's about 11 something now and if we continue this way we can be home in about an hour." He stopped walking and they looked at each other. "Unless, of course, you happen to wanna turn back by yourself?" He said with a playful tone.

"No, this is ok... I was just asking, that's all." Aerith said in an unsure voice.

_You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run  
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun  
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination, girl!_

They continued to walk for a few minutes until they got deeper into the forest. They came to an opening, almost like a field and it was covered with hundreds of graves. Aerith saw the scary site and stopped, holding Cloud with her."Do we _have _to go through _THAT_ place, Cloud?" She pleaded. He looked down at her porcelain face and spoke "Well, I'm going through this way. Come with me if you want."

Aerith's mouth went agape as she witnessed Cloud leaving her a few feet behind. "_I cannot believe he'd leave me! What a, what a, what a jerk! Oh, he is sooo not getting—" _But then stopped her thoughts as she witnessed him continue to walk ahead of her.

"You know, I could be kidnapped!" She shouted while flinging her arms to her sides.

"Then you better get that ass up here!" He shouted back. Cloud turned around to look at her as he walked backwards. "I'd hurry if I were you, I think I see a _Zombie behind you_. " he joked.

"_Haha_, Cloud. Very funny!" Aerith retaliated.

"Well, whatever, it's _your_ brain they're going to eat." He said with a smile.

Aerith knew there wasn't a _"Zombie"_ behind her. But for some odd reason, she still got a _weird_ feeling. She looked around then back at Cloud when all of a sudden she heard a loud howl ring through the air. She started running towards Cloud fast as the wind. He heard the noise and stopped as he waited for Aerith to reach him.

"That didn't sound like a dog." Cloud said in a serious voice.

"Don't bother. I'm not going to get scared. So put your efforts to rest. 'Cause I—"

But Cloud interrupted her. "I'm being serious, Aerith." She looked at his face and realized he didn't actually look like he was messing with her this time. "Then, _what could it have been?_" Aerith asked frantically as she stood by his side. "Probably nothing—" He tried to sound confident but Cloud couldn't help but wonder..._ "Sounded like a person_..."

_"_Come on, just stay by my side_." _He said in a calm voice as he gestured with his head for her to come closer. She moved close enough for Cloud to wrap his arm back securely around her.

"_If it was 'nothing'_ _then why does he want me so close?"_ She let out a long quiet sigh as she leaned closer to Cloud's body. A short while went by and they were finally almost out of the field. "Hey, we're almost out..." Cloud whispered to her.

"Finally—" -Aerith yawned- "I'm getting tired..." Cloud rubbed his hand up and down her arm, trying to shake the sense of drowsiness out of her. "Our place is just a few blocks from here, so we should be home soon." He told her. They stepped off the dewy grass and onto the black pavement of the empty road.

_But all the while you hear the creature creeping up behind  
You're out of time_

A thick cloud of fog covered the entire street and Cloud and Aerith could only see about five feet in front of them. They had only walked a few feet from the graveyard before Cloud heard a loud howl-like moan come from behind them. He immediately stopped and whipped his head back to see what the sound was. His eyes slowly looked over the layout of the field, but he couldn't see anything but fog and graves. "What?" Aerith asked. Cloud never took his eyes off the graveyard behind them. "Nothing—I thought I heard something..." his voice trailed off as he continued to look over the layout.

Aerith's eyes widened. "Well, what'd you hear?" She murmured. The blonde turned his face back to Aerith. " Nothing...Come on, lets go."

They both turned to leave but after a few minutes they heard a louder, more clear wail come from behind them again. This time Cloud turned his entire body around, facing the graveyard. Aerith came closer behind Cloud and held onto his muscled arm as she tip-toed to whisper in his ear. Cloud tilted his head towards her to hear better. "What was that?" she asked softly. Cloud didn't answer but instead kept his eyes locked on the area. A few seconds passed by before Cloud decided to continue walking. As he turned to leave, Cloud caught sight of a silhouette coming closer from the foggy graveyard.

_They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side_

He squinted his eyes to look harder at the figure, trying to make sense of what it was. "_What the hell's this guy's problem"? _He was taken out of thought by the feeling of Aerith's chilled hand over his as she held onto him tightly. "Cloud, can we just go?"

"Yea— lets go." They both turned to leave but what they saw behind them stopped them in their tracks.

In front of them were at least a dozen silhouettes standing there hidden by the fog. Cloud's eyes shot opened as he saw the group of shadows slowly moving towards them. The sound of moans and grunts got louder with every step they took. Cloud thought it was just a bunch of guys fooling around trying to scare people walking by but somewhere in the back of his mind he felt it was something else.

"Alright, assholes, outta the way." He shouted calmly. No words were made from the other figures only the sound of their feet dragging across the rough pavement.

Aerith stayed silent as Cloud spoke to the moving bodies coming nearer. "You think this is funny, you little punks?" Still, no words were spoken. Cloud wasn't sure of what this group of _people_ were up to and thought it would be best if he got Aerith out of the area. He quickly removed his hand from Aerith's and grabbed a little above her elbow firmly, making sure that she couldn't be pulled away by the gang of _people_ walking towards them. Had he been alone he probably would have done something to this gang, but he had Aerith's safety to worry about and he wasn't about to risk her.

_They will possess you unless you change that number on your dial  
Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah_

"Let's head the other way—" He said as he turned her body with his to move in the other direction. Cloud walked in a fast pace as he held onto Aerith's arm. He saw out of the corner of his eye more silhouettes appearing. "_What the hell's going on?" _

Cloud walked faster, pulling Aerith with him until he saw a corner and ran towards it quickly. But when they reached it, Cloud pulled himself and Aerith to a quick halt and held onto her. They stopped, surprised by a slumped figure standing just a few feet in front of them. What Cloud saw shocked him. "_What the?"_

The person had torn skin. Blood oozed from deep rotting cuts on the flesh of his face. Its eyes were wide from missing skin. And half of the nose was rotted away to where you could see the cartilage and bone. On one side of the person's face was peeled and bleeding skin. The lips looked as if they were about to fall off and parts were a bit bubbly looking.

The clothes were ruined, covered with dirt and dust. And when the person stood, it slumped to one side. The smell was thick and musty and almost made it hard to breathe.

Cloud had realized that it wasn't just a normal person... But as _corny and unrealistic_ as it sounded- it was a Zombie!

_All through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen  
I'll make you see_

They stood there, complete shock on their faces. Cloud slightly tilted his head and looked harder at the figure's face. "What the hell?"

"Cloud... What's going on?" Aerith asked in a loud, shaky voice. Suddenly, the Zombie lunged forward. Its arms reaching out to grab them as it fumbled forward. Cloud tightened his grip on Aerith's arm and quickly turned in the other direction down the road, dodging the hungry zombie. As they sprinted Cloud pulled Aerith in front of him so he could make sure nothing could get her. "Aerith, listen, we have to run faster."

"Cloud, what's going on?" The brunette asked in a hoarse voice. "I- I don't know-" Cloud stopped speaking as he turned and saw the small herd of zombies quickly running after them. "RUN!" He shouted. And without hesitation, they both ran, side by side, their breathing fast, their hearts beating rapidly.

"God damn it!" He shouted.

"Cloud, I can't breathe..." Aerith gasped for air but Cloud didn't stop running. "Aerith, we can't stop. They're right behind us!"

The two came to a wide parking-lot and slowed down to catch their breath. "I think we lost them..." Aerith said in one breath. She looked up at Cloud and terror washed over her body once more. The zombies were surrounding them... Cloud pulled Aerith closer to him in a protecting manner.

"Cloud! What are we gonna do?" She screamed in a hoarse tone. Cloud looked around as the zombies closed in around them, their hearts beating faster than ever.

Out of nowhere, Cloud felt something grab his arm. He nudged Aerith a few inches back and shoved the corpse to the ground. But another was headed right towards him. He dodged the fast moving Zombie. Its body collapsed to the ground. After, Cloud turned around to look at Aerith and saw zombies making their way towards her. His heart stopped. "Aerith!" He quickly ran towards them and tackled the one closest to her. "Aerith get out of here!"

"CLOUD!" Aerith couldn't do anything but cry out his name.

She heard Cloud scream once more; "Aerith get out of here, NOW!" She saw him knock a few zombies to the ground, taking the attacks for her. She stepped back a few feet, and _closed her eyes and hoped that this was just her imagination_. Her eyes shot opened as she heard loud screams. There were so many zombies surrounding him she couldn't even see him anymore.

She looked to her side and saw a stick. Aerith quickly picked it up and ran towards Cloud but stopped halfway once she saw him coming out from under the mob of hungry corpses. But what she saw next paralyzed her. His face didn't look like it did before. It was rotten and torn. His skin was covered in deep bloody cuts. He was _one of them now_.

Tears began to fall from her jade eyes as she realized what had happened. "Cloud" -She gasped- "No..." Her heart ached from the sight of her lover walking towards her lifelessly. "Cloud.." She paused and stepped back a few feet. "Please..." -she gasped for air- "Cloud, please, stop..." She waited for a few seconds _thinking_ that he would bust out in laughter at any moment from the look of fear on her face and tell her it was all just a joke. But he didn't speak, he continued to walk, his hands reaching for her _living body_. He was a few feet in front of her now. All the terrified brunette could hear was the sound of fear pounding in her ears.

"_This can't be happening..._" Just as Aerith spoke, Cloud lunged forward at Aerith.

She quickly threw down the stick, and backed away. Without looking back, Aerith ran in the direction of their house, her hair swaying in the fast wind.

It was so cold and she was running so fast it felt like she wasn't even breathing but she never slowed because she knew what would happen if she slowed down even the slightest bit.

She ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. But the mob still haunted behind her. She couldn't shake them, no matter how fast she ran they were always there. Her vision was blurred by tears for her Zombie-fied boyfriend. But she knew he did it for her, and so she continued running until she finally saw their house. She was so happy she had reached the safety of their house that she lost her step and fell to the floor, her knees scratched and bleeding.

She felt something grab her leg and turned and saw a zombie holding onto her. Aerith quickly kicked the zombie in its face causing it to lose its grip on her. She tried to crawl forward but it grabbed her again, pulling her back towards himself. She frantically looked behind her and saw the herd of living dead closing in around her. Aerith kicked it in its face again, but only this time, with even more strength.

The zombie's rotting faced broke away, practically turning into dust from the strong hit. Its grip on her leg went limp and she quickly stood, her legs shaking from the fall, and started to limp forward. She made it to the grassy yard in front of them. But as she leaped on the dewy grass she almost fell again from the wet ground. She gathered her balance and headed for the staircase at their porch.

She dashed up the stairs and slammed into the door. The door was locked!_ "Cloud! He had the keys..."_

"NO! Come on!" She said in a quivering cry. She jiggled the knob in a sad attempt to get inside but failed.

She turned her back to the door. She couldn't move! She was paralyzed by the sight of the _living dead drawing nearer_... with Cloud leading the pack. She slowly slid down the door, until she was in a sitting position. Her heart pounded in her ears as the Zombies surrounded the porch. She looked up at the Zombie-Cloud and her heart sank by the sight of his yellow dead eyes.

Cloud hovered over her trembling body as she threw her arms up in a defensive position. She closed her eyes and tried to block out what was about to happen. But when she felt Cloud's cold hands on her arms she couldn't help but think to herself; _This is it..._

_"_Aerith! Aerith, what's the matter?" She heard Cloud say worriedly. She opened her eyes to see her loving, _living_ boyfriend knelt down in front of her, his hands on her arms. Aerith abruptly moved forward grabbing at Cloud's arms. "Cloud... what happened?"

"We were walking and I guess you dozed off or something..." He said calmly. "And after?" She proclaimed. "I guess you had a nightmare, because when we reached our street you started running like hell out of nowhere." Cloud said in confusion.

She spoke with a sigh and leaned back against the door. "It was a... a dream then?" Cloud smiled and began to help her to her feet. "_Whatever _you were running from, it _clearly_ was a dream."

They were both standing now. "Oh, phew." She turned towards the door, Cloud's hand on her back. "You wouldn't guess what my dream was about, Cloud."

Aerith opened the door but stopped and looked back at Cloud. "Don't expect _any_ sleep tonight, Mr." She said in a sweet voice. Cloud raised one of his eyebrows. "And _why's_ this?" He replied with a cocky smirk. She turned back around and continued to speak but this time, her voice was stern. "Because I'm probably gonna have more nightmares."

Cloud's arms fell to his side in defeat. "_Should have figured it would be that..."_

Cloud walked through the door a few seconds after Aerith. He turned to close it but stopped and looked around outside as his eyes turned to a _bright eerie yellow_.

"Come on Cloud!" Aerith shouted. "I'm coming," He replied. Then he shut the door.

_Darkness falls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand / Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorize y'all's neighbourhood / And whosoever shall be found / Without the soul for getting down / Must stand and face the hounds of hell / And rot inside a corpse's shell. / The foulest stench is in the air / The funk of 40,000 years / And grizzy ghouls from every tomb / Are closing in to seal your doom / And though you fight to stay alive / Your body starts to shiver / _

_For no mere mortal can resist / The evil of the thriller._

_/The end_


End file.
